The
moon says nothing. The day passes, and then again, flung up over it, the great sky canopy:
millions of mutely witnessing desert stars. That part of the story never changes. It comes on
swiftly yet stealthily, in the
same way it does every night.

Leopard, Kenya: photo by Viault, 1987

Lingering in the tall grass, a deceptive sense of animal presence. A buzzing sound.

17 comments:

dreams extend in the desert silence.Boundaries shift endlesslydunes crystal from mountainsshe was a million dollar dogon America's Got Talentall dog not one part cateven in the shademore shade than cat.

knowing this I view the coyotethe leopard the sagelong extended lines of wordsbarely on the edge of understandingankle deep the walking slowthe goal tipped onto its sidejust a sliver so beautiful bright.

The mummy woke up and looked into the dictionary. Suddenly, the past, everything made sense:

SOMNAMBULISM, med. juris. Sleep walking. 2. This is sometimes an inferior species of insanity, the patient being unconscious of what he is doing. A case is mentioned of a monk who was remarkable for simplicity, candor and probity, while awake, but who during his sleep in the night, would steal, rob, and even plunder the dead. Another case is related of a pious clergyman, who during his sleep, would plunder even his own church. And a case occurred in Maine, where the somnambulist attempted to hang himself, but fortunately tied the rope to his feet, instead of his neck. Ray. Med. Jur. Sec. 294. 3. It is evident, that if an act should be done by a sleep walker, while totally unconscious of his act, he would not be liable to punishment, because the intention (q.v.) and will (q.v.) would be wanting. Take, for example, the following singular case: A monk late one evening, in the presence of the prior of the convent, while in a state of somnambulism, entered the room of the prior, his eyes open but fixed, his features contracted into a frown, and with a knife in his hand. He walked straight up to the bed, as if to ascertain if the prior were there, and then gave three stabs, which penetrated the bed clothes, and a mat which served for the purpose of a mattress; he returned. with an air of satisfaction, and his features relaxed. On being questioned the next day by the prior as to what he had dreamed the preceding night, the monk confessed he had dreamed that his mother had been murdered by the prior, and that her spirit had appeared to him and cried for vengeance, that he was transported with fury at the sight, and ran directly to stab the assassin; that shortly after be awoke covered with perspiration, and rejoiced to find it was only a dream. Georget, Des Maladies Mentales, 127. 4. A similar case occurred in England, in the last century. Two persons, who had been hunting in the day, slept together at night; one of them was renewing the chase in his dream, and, imagining himself present at the death of the stag, cried out aloud, "I'll kill him! I'll kill him!" The other, awakened by the noise, got out of bed, and, by the light of the moon, saw the sleeper give several deadly stabs, with a knife, on the part of the bed his companion had just quitted. Harvey's Meditations on the Night, note 35; Guy, Med. Jur. 265.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856

Epifanio and Lalo Cura are having the conversation of all conversations. For Bolaño a bullet at the base of the skull would be a short and sweet exit. But I wonder. Time dilates in a crisis, as we know. Maybe it dilates as we lay dying too—a crisis to end, literally, all crises. And maybe sensation—pleasure or pain—becomes a thousand times more intense, even if it’s just for a scintilla, an immeasurable bit of time. I don’t know. Sobre esto no hay certitud.

I was glad to hear"the poor don't lieto one another"and something aboutbeing in it all together--spoken in the Leopard Manto the girllooking at the birdssaying she had forgottenshe had seen thembeforespilled corn mealnot offering enough lookingunder the bridge for himnot enoughwill never dowas stupid toothat's where he ate grasssilly fooland drank water that drippedfrom the ceilingas all prophets tend to do.